Behind Brown Eyes
by SarahAmaya1
Summary: Sarah Amaya was taken in by the Ryuji family at age 6. Now 18, she escapes their evil hold and starts fresh in the land of fire. She meets Shikamaru while she is injured and defeated. With his vow to help any shinobi in need, will he help her even if she brings trouble? How far will he go to make sure she is safe from the Ryuji clan? Is there something there that wasn't before?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor the picture of Shikamaru and Himawari (she's an OC I found on deviantart, she looks kind of similar to the character I've made), although this story is my own invention and Sarah Amaya is my original character. Kishimoto is a genius and he deserves a round of applause for his work.

 **A/N:** This story takes place after the great ninja war. But in my story, it's the time frame before Naruto becomes hokage, so I have Tsunade as hokage. (Although I am fully aware that Kakashi was made hokage after Tsunade. I "wrote" this story before Naruto actually ended.) This story is about Sarah Amaya (me, obviously) escaping the Ryuji clan of the village hidden in the mist, and coming in contact with Shikamaru Nara. I don't want to spoil anything, so I will leave it there! It's a very good story, probably my most complex. So I hope y'all enjoy!

. . .

 **Chapter 1**

My feet ached as I ran across the still sea. My legs forced themselves to move in the thought of being free. Free from the Ryuji family. The sun had long set and I had probably been running for two hours, focusing the chakra to my feet so I didn't plunge into the sea. I could feel my chakra diminishing with every stride I took. I knew if I took my focus off of my chakra usage, I would definitely sink. But the thought of escaping was enough motivation to keep me going for five hundred miles.

When I was six years old my family was murdered. They were taken from me in the blink of an eye. The only family I had left to go to was my mom's sister, Shiori. She and her family wanted nothing to do with me. They called me a traitor and threw me on the street.

I was six, how was I supposed to know what a traitor was and why my flesh and blood didn't want me? It was then Chiyo found me wandering the streets of the Village Hidden in the Mist. His father, Raika, is the leader of the Ryuji clan, and an evil, malevolent man. He treated me as a daughter for a while, then caste me away just like the rest of the world, and used me as a tool to do his dirty work.

Twelve years later I find myself fleeing the village in hopes I can escape the evils of the Ryuji clan and enter a new, hopeful life in the land of fire. I just had to reach the grass and trees of the land of fire and I would be fully content with my being. I spent all my life in the land of water, only leaving the village on missions to kill or steal. I was sick of it and I wouldn't stand for it any longer.

Out of nowhere, something lunged itself into my left shoulder, knocking me down. I skidded across the water and then sank under. Waves began to arise and I couldn't find the surface in time. I swallowed sea water and my lungs became heavy. I cursed at myself and kicked my legs as hard as I could to reach the surface.

' _Air! I just need air!_ '

I gasped and swallowed as much oxygen as I could when I reached the surface. I slowly started to focus my chakra to my feet in order to stand. Coughing up sea water, I held my left shoulder with my right hand. I swiftly pulled the kunai out of my shoulder, the pain seared through my body like fire. I knew what it was and what was happening; and more importantly, I knew who did it.

Chiyo.

I turned around to find a tall, handsome boy with chestnut hair and emerald eyes looking at me with pity and sorrow. He had bruises on his face and his right eye was swollen. Raika had beaten him into coming to get me and convince me to come back. Clever.

"Sarah," Chiyo took a step towards me.

"Don't!" I spat. "Don't come any closer to me, Chiyo. I'm serious this time. I'm leaving—for good." I turned to leave and Chiyo's voice screamed through out my whole body.

"You're going to die!" he cried.

I stopped for a moment, and then turned to face him once again. He meant the wound he inflicted on me. I looked to my feet and saw nothing but blood draining into the sea. My whole left arm was soaked in it. I shook my head. "I don't care," I barely whispered. I looked up at Chiyo's bright green eyes, "It doesn't matter if I die. As long as I touch one blade of grass from the land of fire, I will know I reached my goal to be released from the horrors of this clan."

"You can't do that!" he boomed in despondency. "If you don't come back, the poison I put in your system will kill you in less than an hour. You have to come back and get the antidote. Other wise you will never see the land of fire." Chiyo crossed his arms across his chest and narrowed his eyes. I knew what he was doing, and he was probably right. The chances of me reaching the land in fire in time were slim; very slim, but I had to try anyway.

"Don't you see?" I said gently. "Dying would be a release in of itself." When he heard those words his shoulders sank and he dropped his arms to his sides. I understood how he thought of me, and he understood how I thought of him, but neither of that would change my decision to be free.

"You leave me no choice…" Chiyo began a numerous amounts of hand signs, "Mi, Hitsuji, Saru, I, Uma, Tora," his chest filled with oxygen and his cheeks puffed up. I knew what was coming, so I built my chakra up and clapped my hands together.

"Fire Style: Fire ball jutsu!" Chiyo blew a storm of fire towards me.

"Water style: Water shockwave jutsu!" I countered.

The water around me swiftly made a spinning vortex taller than ten times my height. Chiyo's fireball jutsu burnt out when it made contact with my vortex. While he was in the midst of summoning another jutsu, I created a wave at the top of the vortex. I brought my arms down to my sides so fast it killed my left shoulder. I grimaced in pain and grabbed my shoulder in pain. The wave came down on Chiyo before he could finish his hand signs for the next jutsu. He went tumbling under the waves and I turned to leave. I turned halfway and made the sign of the tiger.

"Wind style: Air bubble" I whispered to myself. The bubble plunged into the sea and when it rose it had an unconscious Chiyo inside. "Go back to the village." The bubble flew itself above the waves and eventually it was out of sight.

The pain in my shoulder was so great it was hard to see, but I pushed on anyhow. I needed to reach the grounds of the land of fire. Everything was a haze and I began to feel my body giving out. My heart rate started to slow, and my breathing became shallow.

" _I'm not going to make it,_ " I thought with panic. It seemed I would collapse any second, but then I saw something in the distance. I saw tops of trees, as if they were on some sort of mountain. A new adrenaline drove me. It spread through my veins like morphine. I no longer felt pain because all I could see was the land of fire right before my very eyes. It was so close I could almost taste the fresh air and feel the soil. My legs pushed harder and harder the closer I got. I didn't even have to concentrate on focusing my almost faded chakra because I was almost there. I closed my eyes and kept straight ahead. I felt light on my feet, as if I was running on air, then, without seeing; I felt the soil and grass of the land underneath my feet. I opened my glossed-over eyes and kept running. I jumped from tree to tree, getting as far into the forests of the land of fire as I could before my body reached its absolute limit.

" _I'm free!_ " I screamed in my mind, but laughed out loud. The pain came back and my foot got caught on a tree branch, causing me to fall down and hit the ground. Tears filled my eyes, and I heard the songs of birds in the distance. The sun felt so good on my face as it rose from the horizon. I smiled a weak, exhausted smile and closed my eyes.

"Chiyo…" I breathed. "I'm free."

Then everything went black.

 **A/N:** Alright! First chapter down. NOTE: the "Wind Style: Air Bubble Jutsu" doesn't exit. I made it up because I couldn't find a jutsu anywhere that was a defense justu for wind chakra. So I used my creative license for that one. Basically how it works is you create the bubble and you can tell it what to do and where to go, and it will safely bring cargo or messages wherever you want it to. How do y'all like it? I really love this story and I hope you all enjoy reading this. I know it's an original character, but wait me out! I've worked really hard on this story, and I really hope you give it a chance. I think some people might really enjoy it. Plus, I have hints of SasuSaku and NaruHina in here as well. So bear with me!

I would really like to know what is working in this story and what is not working. Write a review, good or bad, or send me a private message with tips and what not. I'm excited to see who my Shikamaru Nara fans there are! I love him to death and I am very, very thrilled to see what y'all think. SHIKAMARU IS WAITING FOR YOU IN THE NEXT CHAPTER.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, although this story is my own invention and Sarah Amaya is my original character. Kishimoto is a genius and he deserves a round of applause for his work.

 **A/N:** Although this takes place after the ninja war, I have Tsunade as Hokage because I came up with this story before Naruto ended. The Land of Fire and The Hidden Leaf Village are re-building. This is a year after the war. Enjoy chapter two!

. . .

 **Chapter 2**

There was the sound of birds faintly chirping, and I felt a cool breeze on my face. My fingers tangled themselves in the grass I lay on, and then brought to my face. I touched my eyes, my nose, and then my mouth.

' _Am I dead?_ ' I thought. I cracked my eyes open and the light burned my eyes. I squinted and slowly rose to a sitting position. I held my head in my hands. ' _That's right…Chiyo's poison…"_ a sharp pain entered my body through my left shoulder.

"Ah!" I grabbed my throbbing shoulder and examined my hand, I wasn't bleeding anymore. ' _How is this possible?_ ' she thought. ' _I should be dead._ '

"Be careful. That wound was pretty deep," a lulling voice said from behind me. I whipped my head around to see a very tall boy with lazy brown eyes that were almost comforting. His hands were shoved in his pockets, and he leaned his body against the trunk of a tree. He wore a badge that stated he was from the Hidden Leaf Village, and his jacket stated he was a jonin. He took a step close to me and I narrowed my eyes. "A couple inches over and it would have pierced your heart," he continued. "Whoever threw that kunai knew it wouldn't pierce your heart. Also…" he took his hands out of his pockets and scratched his ebony-haired head. "The poison in your system will take days to dispose of…"

"How do you know I had poison in me?" I asked forcefully. "How did you get it out in time? I should have died from it, only Chiyo has an antidote to it and-,"

"Died?" he raised an eyebrow. "The only way you could have died in that situation is by blood loss, which is why you passed out." I sunk my shoulders and crossed my arms. Who exactly was this guy? "No. The poison that was on the kunai was simply a knock-out poison."

"A knock-out poison?" I said to myself, processing the information.

"Yes," he said. "A knock-out poison slows your body down and creates tremendous amounts of bruising around the effected area. It enters the blood stream and slows the nervous system down, eventually knocking the victim out for some time," he explained. I scoffed.

"I know what a knock-out poison is," I retorted. When on missions with Chiyo and the others, he would defy his fathers' orders and instead of killing the victims—depending on their crimes—he would knock them out with the knock-out poison instead of killing them. He then left a note for when they woke up. It usually said to go to a different village and wear a different name. Chiyo had the same views I did. He just didn't have the guts to run away like I did. What I didn't understand is why this guy—from the Hidden Leaf Village—was helping me. He could have left me there to die, but he didn't. What for?

"Who are you?" I asked him as I tried to stand up. My legs crumbled before I could get halfway up.

"I said to be careful," he advised as he came closer to me, his arms out as if to catch me if I fell. "You've lost way too much blood to be moving. I've sent a shadow clone to my village. He'll address the situation to our Hokage and I'll get an answer on what to do then." I looked at him with confusion.

"What situation?" he put his hands back in his pockets and sighed. His brown eyes focused on me at all times, as if he was waiting for me to make a move. He seemed smart. _Really_ smart.

"You look like a shinobi. So let me ask you a question: Where's you're headband? What village do you belong to?" He narrowed his eyes, never taking them off of me. His tone serious now. I pursed my lips. When he figured I wasn't going to say anything he continued. "I thought so," he said sternly. "The situation is that I just saved your life. You don't have any identification as to who you are or where you came from, so I had no choice but to assume that you've been outlawed from your village, forcing you to wander about in the woods. You've been attacked, so there is someone after you. I have no reason to believe they were in the wrong, or you were in the right." If eyebrows could frown, he'd win the Best-Frowning-Eyebrows-Award. I could feel a bead of sweat trickle down my face as he interrogated me. "So the situation here is that I can't let you go until the Fifth gives orders," he relaxed his face a little and he took a step back and leaned against the tree again.

"There's no way I'm waiting here for some stupid orders," I spat. "She's not my Hokage, so why do I have to listen to her?" I slowly got up, my legs feeling a little better—I could feel the blood circulating once more.

"I'm the one who has to follow her orders. And her orders are to stay with you until she decides what she wants to do with you." He crossed his arms across his chest and looked at me through bored eyes.

"Well, screw that," I said as I moved my hair to my right shoulder. "I'm not trying to cause any trouble, and if you were wise, you'd just let me go." He raised his eyebrows and chuckled. "What's so funny?" his chuckles became small laughs. He was really pissing me off.

"You don't have a choice," he lazily took his hands out of his pockets and I acted fast, ignoring the pain in my shoulder. I took a kunai out of my ninja pack and threw it in his direction, quickly dodging it he jumped back as if he was retreating. Landing his feet on a tree branch, I came at him at full speed, attempting to punch him in the face, but he caught my hand and punched me in the stomach. The force knocked me to the ground. I felt a tear, and then warm-cold liquid oozed out of my shoulder. I grimaced in pain.

"Bastard," I gritted my teeth. The boy landed on the ground, hands in his pockets again, and yawned.

"I didn't want to do that. You gave me no choice," he said. "I really thought we could have a calm conversation about this—,"

"Calm? You thought I was going to be calm?" I could feel my temperature rise as I got angrier. "You can't force me to stay somewhere and expect me to stay calm." I stood up and held my shoulder. He glanced at it and gestured to it.

"I can patch that up for you."

"I'm good, thanks," I said finally and turned to leave. "I'm not sticking around. You won't ever see me again so don't worry about your village or any other village. I'm just passing through—,"

My body couldn't move. I tried to move my legs but they wouldn't budge. My arms were caught at the sides; I couldn't even wiggle a finger. "What the hell?" I said aloud.

"I told you, you can't go anywhere until Tsunade gives her orders," the boy said over my shoulder.

"What did you do to me?" I demanded. I seemed like I wasn't freaking out, but on the inside I was freaking out to the max. I couldn't stand not having control over my own body. It scared me more than anything.

"It's my shadow possession jutsu," he explained. "I combine our shadows so that I have complete control over your body," My right arm suddenly rose. "Whatever I do…" My left arm rose as well, a searing pain shot through my body. "You do," he finished.

"Okay, I get it. What do you want?" I asked. I would have done anything to get out of that stupid jutsu. I knew I wouldn't be able to get out of it, he had complete control and his hold on the jutsu was unbelievable.

"Answers. I want you to tell me who threw that kunai at you and why, along with what village you're from," he said.

"Not a chance," I retorted.

"If you don't tell me you're situation, my shadow clone will get to the Hokage and have nothing to say about you other than I found you half-dead in the woods, and you have no identification. If that is the case, she can't make a decision and we'll be stuck here until you say something." I rolled my eyes. Of course that's the case. He really did think things through thoroughly. "And," he added. "I could keep you in the jutsu all day if I needed to."

I really wanted to get out of that jutsu. I was crawling in my own skin thinking about being in it any longer. I felt like I was suffocating in my own blood. But my blood wasn't' even mine anymore; it was like he owned It the moment he put me in that jutsu. A long silence fell between us and I sighed.

"Fine," I gave in finally. "But you take me out of this damned jutsu." I figured if I told him my situation, the Hokage would understand and let me go to wherever I was headed to—which I had no idea where I wanted to go. I really had just planned on running around from place to place until I found one that would accept me. I had nothing to hide.

"Sure you're not just going to try something?" he questioned.

"Do I look that stupid? I want out of this jutsu as soon as possible and I don't ever want to be put in it again, and I know you can just whip it out whenever you feel like it, so why would I try to run when I could have complete control over my body at all times?" I snapped. There was a silence, and I was getting very antsy. "Are you going to let me go, or what?"

I felt my blood circulate again and I could finally breathe through my own lungs. My toes wiggled in the grass and I held onto my shoulder. I was so caught up in the fact I couldn't move that I didn't notice I was losing blood.

The boy approached me and held out new gauze. "Let me patch that up for you," he offered.

"Why are you doing this?" I huffed in frustration. "You don't know me."

He ripped a piece of gauze off the roll with his teeth. "It's simple," he said as he pulled my shirt up from behind to remove the bloody gauze he had placed before. I didn't really care, and I wasn't really sure why I let him do it. A part of me trusted him, yet a part of me didn't want to trust him. he slowly took the bloody gauze off and threw it on the ground. Replacing the old with the new, he dropped my shirt and I turned to face him. He had a slight smile on his lips and he rubbed his ebony hair. Opening his eyes to look at me he finally said, "I help any shinobi in need. That's my ninja way."

Maybe he had a hero complex or something. But I could kind of see where he was coming from. Finding someone in their most vulnerable state and not doing anything to help them, is a very superficial thing to do. I gave him a good, long look over. He wasn't a liar, I could tell that. And I knew he knew when someone else was lying. He didn't stand for bullshit. He was an honest shinobi with good intentions. So why help someone he didn't know anything about.

"What's your name?" I finally asked. He put his hands on his hips.

"Shikamaru," he said. "Shikamaru Nara."

I knew at that moment, somehow, my life would never be the same. I just didn't know how yet.

 **A/N:** Alright! The moment you've all been waiting for. SHIKAMARU APPEARS! I wanted to bring out the intellectual part of Shikamaru in this chapter just a bit, to give Sarah a taste of his intelligence. I remember Shikamaru saying (although it's been forever and I can't remember when or where he was) that helping any shinobi in need was his ninja way. (And I apologize if I have that wrong, and he has a different ninja way. In this story that's his ninja way. XD). I really hope y'all enjoyed chapter two! Everything gets juicy and awesome from here on out with love triangles and battles and secrets and what not! It's going to be good and I hope it's well-liked. Tell me what you think!


End file.
